When Bridget Riley was a young artist, many people expected her to paint things they recognised, like lovely landscapes, bowls of fruit, or portraits of people.   Art was supposed to be “pretty,” they thought.

But Bridget didn’t want to paint just pretty things.  She wanted to paint IDEAS.  She wanted to paint the way light felt, the way motion looked, andhow to confuse the eye.

When she first showed her paintings—giant canvases covered only in black stripes or gray circles—some people were confused.

“Where is the subject?” they asked. “It’s just lines!”

It took courage for Bridget to keep painting her simple, strange, wobbly paintings when others told her they weren’t “real art.”  But she believed in her own vision.  She felt a special energy when she looked at those lines, and she knew that if she stayed true to her feelings, others would eventually see it too.

Art That Stopped Traffic

Her art became known as Op Art (short for Optical Art).  Op Art uses patterns, colours, and shapes to create a visual buzz, making flat surfaces appear to wiggle, move, or bulge.  It’s like a visual drumbeat that your brain has to catch up to.

Bridget kept painting her optical illusions, and slowly, something amazing happened.  People couldn’t stop looking at them! Her art was so different and so powerful that it drew people in.

Her work traveled the world, and suddenly, the “lines” and “circles” that people thought were boring became famous.  They didn’t just look at the painting; the painting looked back at them, making their eyes feel active and playful.

The Lesson of the Stripes

Bridget’s story is a great reminder that it’s okay to be different.

• If everyone else is drawing cartoon characters, and you want to draw complicated machines, do it!
• If everyone else loves pop music, and you love classical music, don’t hide it!

Bridget Riley shows us that the best art—the best ideas, the best clothes, the best inventions—often come from people who are brave enough to ignore what everyone else is doing and follow their own strange, wonderful, original vision.

Being different isn’t a weakness; it’s what makes you an artist in your own right.

Make Your Own Op Art!

The secret to Op Art is repetition and contrast.

• Draw a simple repeating shape on a piece of paper (like parallel lines, circles, or squares).
• Use strong contrast—like black and white, or complementary colors (like the blue and orange on the art piece I created).
• The Trick: The illusion often happens when you change the direction of the line or the shade/color right next to a constant element.   For example, draw many parallel lines, then draw a slight, curving bump in the middle of them all.  When you colour the curve and the background differently, the flat paper will look like it’s swelling up!

Remember, you are the only one who can see the world exactly as you do.

-Helen Barnard
Volunteer
Girl Museum

References

• Who is Bridget Riley? –  https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-bridget-riley ( explains how she painted lines and circles that seem to move and why people were confused at first.)
• The Art Story – Bridget Riley summary (clean, readable, has a kid-friendly tone if you skip the academic parts) https://www.theartstory.org/artist/riley-bridget/
• Bridget Riley: Behind The Illusions https://www.printed-editions.com/blog/bridget-riley-behind-the-illusions/

Op Art  for kids

• Taking Inspiration from Bridget Riley’s Op Art  https://anitasagastegui.com/2022/09/12/3rd-grade-taking-inspiration-from-bridget-rileys-op-art/
• Fun Op Art Drawing For Kids & Beginners https://craftyartideas.com/draw-op-art/
• Trick the Eye with Op Art! https://www.heckscher.org/hh-kids-edition-episode-12-trick-the-eye-with-op-art/#:~:text=Op%20artists%20use%20shapes%2C%20patterns,those%20effects%20in%20Richard’s%20painting.